Not much public engagement yet from the social right on my WSJ piece yesterday, as Jonah noticed. Well, maybe in time, I’ll get an answer of sorts. My questions about what conservatives are actually for with regard to gay citizens weren’t meant to be purely rhetorical. So why no answers? Here’s my inference. A hefty part of the opposition to same-sex marriage is based on purely religious grounds. Some on the social right do not make any real distinctions between Biblical law and civil law. Or rather, they don’t on matters pertaining to homosexuality. So they’re against everything to do with gay rights, period. Secular opponents of marriage for gays may well be in favor of some sort of civil union that isn’t quite marriage, but (with some noble exceptions like Jonah) they avoid saying so in order not to offend their fundamentalist allies. The anti-gay marriage forces are, in fact, more conflicted than the pro-gay marriage forces. The left’s former hostility to the idea has largely evaporated within the gay world over the last decade. But the fundamentalist right’s opposition to any recognition of gay relationships at all is as strong as ever. That means that no conservative compromise – internally or externally – looks possible. Or am I wrong?
AND ON HATE CRIMES: Some of you who read my WSJ piece asked whether I support them. Nuh-huh. I find them horrifying. But I simply cannot see how an intellectually honest person can support them for everyone except gays. That’s Bush’s position. It’s intellectually absurd. If hate crimes are thought-crimes, it doesn’t matter to whom they’re directed: they’re all wrong (my position). But if they’re legitimate ways to deter crimes of violence and hatred against minorities, then excluding one minority that everyone acknowledges is a common victim of “hate” makes no sense. Some might argue that homosexuality is a choice. Well, so is religion, and that’s protected. Can someone give me a reason for the gay exclusion?
POOR ALTERMAN: His loony thesis that the media is right-leaning isn’t shared by many. Hey, but what do the viewers know? They’re just morons, aren’t they?
FIGHTING BACK WORKS: The minute Sharon started taking the fight back to the terrorists, something strange happened. Terrorist deaths dropped by almost a half. (For some reason, I screwed this item up yesterday.)
The Dish 